Who taught you how to punch?
by Dinosoaring
Summary: When a theft goes wrong, Nathan Drake meets a young Lara Croft, still very new to the whole tomb raiding thing, and together they have to stop an ancient power from falling into the wrong hands. Rated T.
1. Chapter 1

'Who taught you how to punch, your grandma?'

'Yeah, actually.'

*THWACK*

Judging by that last one, his grandma was a goddamn prize fighter. Nathan Drake turned his head and spat out the blood filling his mouth. There was more trickling down the side of his face but there was nothing he could do about that. He struggled weakly once more against the restraints that tied him to the chair, and looked up at the man standing in front of him. The guy was huge, all muscle. He looked like a freaking monster.

A second voice spoke, from the shadows, the brain behind the brawn.

'I do not have time for your games, Drake. What you stole was extremely valuable to me. I did not spend many years of my life and much of my wealth locating it, only to have it stolen by a common thief, and have more money spent tracking him down!'

Nathan laughed, which turned into a fit of pained coughing and spluttering.

'Maybe... _cough_...you should have...spent your money...on security.'

The man growled, and stepped out of the shadows. He looked like a rich villain from an old movie. Tall, thin, with a nice suit and cane, complete with a little twirly moustache.

'Mr. Carlyle, I presume?'

'Where is it? This is your final warning!'

Nathan laughed again.

'I really couldn't say, even if I wanted to. See, I sold it as soon as possible. As to who I sold it to, well, that I _do_ know, but I'm probably not going to tell you.'

'Are you quite sure about that?'

'I'm pretty sure.' Nathan spat more blood, this time in a specific direction.

Carlyle hissed in anger, nodded at monster-man, and, with one more venomous glance at Nathan, stalked out of the room, leaving the two of them alone. Nathan regarded the human truck again, who was cracking his knuckles menacingly.

'Seriously man, what kind of grandma _was_ she?'

*WHAM*

When Nathan woke up he was still tied to the same chair, in the same room, at least, as far as he could tell. The room was very dimly lit, almost completely black at the far end, and there was a very unpleasant smell. Nathan groaned at the pain in his head and his wrists, and started trying to gather his thoughts to come up with a plan.

He sat there for what seemed like hours, and still nothing. His brain wouldn't work properly, and one of his eyes had now swollen shut. His whole face ached and he didn't have any kind of plan whatsoever. He just sat there, listening to water dripping somewhere, and a quiet popping sound.

Wait, what?

The popping sound was new, and it was gradually growing louder, until it became the unmistakeable sound of gunfire, accompanied by a lot of male voices shouting. There were several louder bangs that sounded like grenades, a bit more gunfire that was so loud it must be almost right outside the door to his cell, and then...silence. He tried to call out but his mouth was incredibly dry and all he could do was croak.

Suddenly, the door flew open with a bang and in burst a young woman, her long brown ponytail whipping around as she quickly surveyed the room. She was wearing a very dirty tank top and cargo pants, with a bow slung across her back, a pistol at her hip, and an assault rifle in her arms.

Nathan stared at her.

'Oh my god, are you alright?'

She was British. Huh.

She hurried over to him and cut the ropes tying him down. He slumped forwards, too weak to support himself. He couldn't remember when he had last eaten or had anything to drink. He groaned as the woman caught him and helped him to lie down comfortably on the ground, producing water and some bandages from a backpack he hadn't noticed before. He reached for the water, but she picked it up before him and helped him drink.

'.. _cough.._ Who are you?' His voice sounded so strange and croaky, and it kinda hurt to talk.

'Easy there. My name's Lara.'

'Nathan Drake. It's a pleasure to meet you.' He burst into another fit of coughing, and as his face screwed up at the pain, he felt fresh blood trickled down his cheek. Lara's eyes flickered up to his temple.

'You're bleeding. Let me help with that, and then we'll get out of here. Can you shoot a gun?'

A few minutes later, Nathan's head was bandaged up and he was beginning to feel a little less like there was a little man with a jackhammer in his brain. Lara handed him a pistol, and some spare ammo. He immediately checked the magazine.

'Listen, Lara, I got a few questions, like, where the hell are we, and what are you doing here?'

'I'm sorry Nathan, now's not really the time for this is it? We can talk one we've escaped.'

'So, you got a plan to get out of here, or...? Do we just go out guns blazing and hope for the best?'

'That's how I got in. It should be easier with two people though.' She looked a little worried. 'Let's go.'

They exited the room, turned right, and hurried down the corridor. It looked like an old bunker or something like that. It was very dirty, and quite dimly lit. They reached another tunnel that branched off, and Lara peeked around the corner.

'She's here!'

'Shit'. Lara ducked back just as the corridor exploded with the sound of gunfire, and bullets flew past where her face had just been. She nodded to Nathan and as soon as the shooting stopped, he quickly ran to the other side of the corridor and took cover. One more quick glance between them, and they opened fire. Nathan took out one of the gunmen, while Lana got the other two. Once they had confirmed that the coast was clear, they continued, Nathan only stopping to pick up a machine gun from one of the dead men, plus some extra ammo.

They continued like this, not meeting an extreme amount of resistance, only groups of two or three at a time, which they took out easily. Finally, they reached a much damaged part of the bunker which opened up to the outdoors. They climbed out, warily checking their surroundings. It seemed to be an abandoned dock of some sort. There were large, rusty cargo ships everywhere, and a lot of scaffolding that looked like it might collapse at any moment.

Lara was about to signal that they continue, when Nathan saw something glinting on one of the ships. It looked like...

'Lara, get down!'

He pulled them both down behind some crates just as the crack of a rifle echoed throughout the dock, and a hole appeared in the wall behind them.

With the element of surprise gone, groups of men started to advance on the two of them. They picked them off one by one, but more kept on coming. A grenade exploded near them, blasting them sideways, setting their ears ringing and their heads spinning.

Lara crawled over to Nathan and rolled him on to his back. He had hit his head again when they were blown sideways and blood was beginning to seep through the bandages. His eyes slowly blinked open, and he struggled to pull himself into an upright sitting position.

Lara peeked over the crates. The men were still advancing, and they were getting close.

'How does it look?'

'There's too many of them Nathan.' She sighed, and then set her jaw in resignation. 'I'll take out as many as I can but we won't last long.'

Nathan pulled himself up to look over the crates, and paled slightly when he saw the mob approaching. He desperately looked around for anything that could help their dire situation, and when his eyes found a group of canisters, a slow smile spread across his face.

He dropped back into cover and turned to Lara.

'Let's light these suckers up!'

 ***Author's Note* This is my first time really trying to write anything, so please feel free to give me any tips or pointers as to how I could improve my writing. Your help would be appreciated :) Also *Disclaimer* I do not own any of the characters from Uncharted or Tomb Raider.**


	2. Chapter 2

BOOM!

'Holy shit!' Nathan looked at the destruction one well-placed bullet had caused. The explosion had been much larger than he expected, blasting their attackers everywhere, destroying a large chunk of boat, part of the dock, and collapsing some scaffolding. Awesome. It had literally decimated everything within a ten metre radius. The few survivors, who hadn't quite been close enough, were extremely dazed and easy to pick off.

Nathan turned to Lara. She was staring, wide-eyed, at the burning dock. She looked like she might be sick. She obviously hadn't seen the effects of an explosion like this before, and he'd be the first to say it really wasn't a pretty sight. Poor kid.

'Lara.' He took her gently by the shoulders, and she glanced up at him. 'I'm gonna clear the area up ahead ok? Just stay here. I'll be back soon.'

With another quick look around, he hopped over the crates they were hiding behind and crept along the dock. The main part of the boardwalk was completely demolished, and...were those...bits...of people? Ew. He skirted around that, looking for a way across. His eyes soon found a bunch of small crates stacked beside a shipping container. Perfect. He easily clambered up onto the container, and scaled some scaffolding until he reached a platform.

The higher vantage point provided a much better view of the area. He could see a few remaining mercenaries, although much less than he expected. Nathan only counted five. Carlyle must have left once Lara attacked, taking his personal guard with him and leaving only the most expendable behind.

The gunman closest to him was easily within his range, so he hoisted his gun up to his shoulder, aimed carefully and... *click*

'Ah shit.' Out of ammo. He checked his handgun. Same thing. Guess he would have to do this the old fashioned way.

Nathan crept to the edge of the platform, and lowered himself down quietly. It was a short drop down onto another container, and from there he could just jump from container to container until he was on the one right beside the gunman. He waited until he was just under him, then dropped down on top of him, knocking him down and giving him a blow to the head that rendered him unconscious. He picked up the gun that had fallen on the ground.

'I'll take that.'

He cleared the rest of the dock quickly, leaping from container to container, taking out the unsuspecting gunmen one by one. When he got through the dock, he found an rickety old jeep that looked like it might just get them out of there. He hurried back to Lara, who was exactly where he left her, curled up behind the crates.

'Lara! We have to go now, ok? I doubt anyone will be coming back, but let's not stay to find out.'

Lara nodded dumbly, still looking horror-struck, and slowly stood up to follow him. Nathan led her along his previous route, trying to ignore the horrible smell of burnt flesh that hung in the air as they passed the blast zone,

'Wha...what the fuck.' Lara was shaking now. She covered her mouth and screwed her eyes shut until they had passed them completely.

Nathan loaded Lara up into the old jeep, along with their weapons and some other supplies he had picked up. Lara was still in shock, and he couldn't blame her. It was pretty horrible what had happened, but hey, at least they were alive. He sighed, and climbed into the car.

'Lara?' He spoke gently to her. 'I'll drive, but I need you to tell me where to go, cos I still have no clue where we are...Lara?'

She jumped slightly, and then nodded.

'Alrighty then.' He started the car. 'Let's go.'

A few hours later found them in a run-down little hotel in a small village somewhere in southern Italy. Lara was asleep, and Nathan figured it was better to leave her sleep off the shock, and then get her to answer his questions.

He was in the bathroom cleaning up the mess that was his face when she appeared at the door, silent and pale, looking a little like a lost ghost. There was a slightly awkward pause.

'Do we have any food?'

'Food..oh! Uh... I was going to go and get some, but y'know, I don't have any money, and...well... I didn't think it was a good idea to scare the poor villagers.' He gestured at his face, which didn't look much better despite his efforts. 'They might think I'm a zombie or something, especially if I tried to speak Italian'

Lara let out a tiny giggle at that. Thank god. Nathan was afraid she'd be stuck in a permanent state of rabbit-in-the-headlights.

'I have money in my backpack. I could go down..'

'No, no. You stay here.' He waved away her protests as he headed into the main living area. ' _You_ are still in shock and I think it would probably be worse for the locals to have you break down in their shop than it would be to deal with me.' He held out his hand for the money, and after a little bit of digging, Lara produced it from her backpack of wonders, and placed it in his hand.

'Be back soon.' He gave her a wink, and headed out.

The trip into the village was uneventful. Nathan was on edge for the whole thing, expecting to get jumped at every corner. In the end, the only trouble he had was trying to figure out exactly what it was he was buying, and convincing a very concerned old lady that he did not need to go to hospital. He had a moment of fear when Lara took a little while to open the door, but eventually she did and he was reassured that she had not been kidnapped or killed. He felt strangely protective of this young woman, even though she had saved him in the first place. Maybe it was because she seemed so innocent...but yet, despite her apparent innocence, there was a kind of underlying toughness about her...whatever. He had food to make. He was _starving._

It wasn't anything fancy, just fried eggs and bread, but they both ate like it was the most delicious thing they had ever had the privilege to taste. After a brief period of silence during which they just sat there digesting, Nathan decide it was question time. He sat forward and rested his elbows on the table.

'Right Lara. I think it's time we get everything out in the open, don't you? For starters, I gotta say, I'm curious as to why you were there, on some crusade or whatever, especially since...well, you don't seem like you've seen a lot of violence.' Nathan looked at her questioningly. Lara dropped her gaze to her hands, which were clasped on her lap.

'I'm sorry about that...I hadn't seen anything like it before and..it was...' Her jaw set, and she looked up at him with sudden determination in her eyes. 'It doesn't matter. It won't happen again. I was there to get something off Carlyle. Why were _you_ there?'

'Funny, I was there because I got something off Carlyle that he really didn't want me to take.'

'What did you take?'

'A jade dragon statuette. 'Nathan shrugged. 'It wasn't even worth that much so I don't know why he was so pissed.'

Lara sat up quickly. She looked tense, and when she spoke there was an urgency to her tone that hadn't been there before.

'Where is it? Nathan, it's very important that you tell me.'

'Whoah there sweetheart.' Nathan narrowed his eyes and folded his arms. 'I'm not telling you anything else without more information about your part in all this. If there's someting up with that dragon I wanna know.'

Lara deliberated for a moment, then sighed.

'That dragon is the reason I'm here. In Northern China there are legends about an ancient power, a dragon of some kind, which lives in the mountains. This dragon was said to be immortal, with infinite knowledge. The people used to worship it, and there are thousands of temples dedicated to this dragon.' She paused and glanced at him. Nathan had seen his fair share of weird shit, and this barely even came close, so he motioned to her to continue. She took a deep breath.

'The legends also say that the dragon visited the people once. It spoke to them, saying that one day a great traveller would come, and that he would bestow his power upon this traveller. Then the dragon retreated to its lair deep in the mountains and fell into a deep slumber, never to be seen again. Many travellers have attempted to locate it, but no one has, many of them becoming lost in the mountains and disappearing without a trace. However, a few legends say that there is a map, one map, which shows the way to the dragon's lair. This map is said to be in a dragon statuette. A jade dragon statuette.'

'Ah.'

Lara looked at him pleadingly. 'Carlyle is looking for it too Nathan. I don't think he's working alone either. If there's any chance the stories are true, he mustn't be allowed get the map. Please Nathan, you have to tell me where it is. That kind of power cannot be allowed fall into the wrong hands.'

'I understand, but there's one slight problem. See, I don't actually have it. I got rid of it as soon as possible.'

'So who did you sell it to? We'll just get it back.'

'Ok, maybe there's two problems. I didn't actually sell it.'

'What?'

'Yeah, I gave it to a friend of mine to sell, while I did...other stuff. Didn't get a chance though, Carlyle's goons nabbed me pretty quick. But anyway, don't worry. We'll just pay my friend a visit.'

'Who's your friend?'

'Victor "Goddamn" Sullivan.'

'...'

'That's...kind of an inside thing..'

 *****Author's Note*****

 **Hi guys! I had to put Sully in the story, he's one of my favourite characters :D I'm sorry about the short chapters, I really wanted to make this one longer, but I'm going to a language camp for a few weeks and I wanted to get it done before I left. For this reason, I also won't be able to write anything for a few weeks, but I promise I will continue! Finally, huge thanks to the people who've given this support! You've no idea how motivating it is, and please feel free to give me any more tips on how to make this story better! Thanks! ;)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok, so *puts hands up apologetically* really sorry for the long wait for this chapter! I've just been really busy since school started back with homework and music stuff. I also got distracted by another story (disgraceful, I know). But today school was cancelled (there's a storm covering basically the whole of Ireland, although my area is pretty much unaffected) so I decided, right, I'm gonna buckle down and finally finish this chapter. So, I'm back now, and I have a longer chapter to make up for it! Thanks to anyone who's still reading, and once again, sorry for making you wait so long! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Are you certain he's in here?" Lara looked doubtfully at the decrepit building. "It's not quite what I pictured."

"What, were you expecting a mansion? That's not really an ideal place for a hideout, don't you think? Come on. He's in there."

Nathan hopped out of the car and looked around the alley. Sure, it was dark and dingy, there was rubbish everywhere, and the building looked like no one had lived there in forever, but that was kind of the whole point. He tried the door. Locked. Crap. Sully had better be here. It had been a real pain getting back to America, and Nathan didn't want to have to hunt down his friend, too. He scanned the walls of the building. There was a broken window two floors up; all he had to do was get on to the fire escape...

"Stay here. I'll be right back."

Lara opened her mouth, maybe to protest, maybe to ask what the hell he was doing, but Nathan was already climbing up the pipes on the opposite wall. Once he got to the right height, he readied himself, and propelled backwards off the wall, stretching his hands out to the fire escape on the opposite side of the alley.

"Crap!" One of his hands slipped as he caught the ledge, but he quickly regained his grip, and pulled himself up. Once he reached the broken window, he smashed the rest of the glass with his elbow.

"Ok Lara, I'm gonna...whoa!" Turning to call down to her, Nathan found her standing right behind him. "Did you just..?"

She shrugged. "I've done my fair share of climbing. Are we going in?"

Nathan motioned to the window. "Ladies first?"

The interior of the building was far nicer than the exterior. There were nice carpets, nice decorations, and plenty of nice furniture. Sully sure liked his comfort. Several ancient artefacts hung around the place, souvenirs from old adventures. As they headed downstairs, Nathan picked up a Spanish doubloon lying on a shelf and played with it absentmindedly, before tossing it onto an ancient desk.

As they headed down into the basement, they were greeted by the smell of cigar smoke and alcohol. "Sully?"

"Nathan!" Victor Sullivan appeared, a surprised expression on his face. He grabbed Nathan and pulled him into a hug. "How've ya been kid? I haven't heard from you for weeks! Where were you?"

"Oh, you know, tied up with this and that."

Lara coughed lightly. They both turned to her. Sully raised his eyebrows at Nathan. "And who might this young lady be?"

"Sully, this is Lara Croft. Lara, Victor Sullivan."

Lara stuck out her hand. "Pleased to meet you Mr Sullivan."

Sully took her hand and shook it. "Likewise Ms Croft. And please, feel free to call me Sully." He turned back to Nathan. "So what're you doing here kid? To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit?"

"Er..."He glanced at Lara. "It's kinda a long story."

"Well, why don't we sit down, have a drink, and you two can tell me what the hell is going on."

Sully frowned, as if he were deep in thought. Lara sat forward, a very serious expression on her face, while Nathan picked at a loose thread on the arm of the couch they were sitting on. It was a moment before Sully spoke again.

"So let me get this straight. That dragon statue you gave me to sell off for you had a secret map inside it?"

"Yes."

"And this map leads to some cave in North China?"

"Yes, in the mountains."

"Right...and in this cave is a dragon, which has been asleep for hundreds of years, waiting for a certain traveller to come along so it can give them some advice?"

Lara's face fell.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"It sounds like a wild goose chase to me." Sully shrugged, leaning back into his chair. "Nothing but a legend, and one with a very distinct lack of treasure."

Before Lara could argue, Nathan leapt up.

"Sully, could I have a word?"

"Sure, kid."

As he was leading Sully to the far corner of the room, Nathan flashed Lara a thumbs up and mouthed _I got this_. She just huffed, crossing her arms. He turned back to face Sully.

"Nate, you can't honestly tell me you believe this? It's just a story, nothing else."

"I'm not so sure about that." He shook his head.

Sully leaned in a little closer, raising his eyebrows.

"Look, kid, I know she's pretty, but I didn't think crazy was your type."

"I...what? No." Shooting Sully an exasperated glare, Nathan continued. "Anyway, I think it's more than just a story _because,_ Carlyle seemed pretty pissed off about me stealing the statue."

"Fair enough, but you know those rich types."

"Yeah, I do, they're usually nutjob assholes chasing down fairytales, who end up trying to kill me. But it almost always turns out that there's truth behind the story they're chasing."

Sully looked at him for a moment and then just sighed.

"I give in, kid. I don't have the energy to argue with you. I'll help you get the goddamn statue back. I won't be going with you, mind. I have better things to be doing with my time. Besides," He winked at Nathan. "Three's a crowd and all that."

"Stop it."

As they headed back to where Lara was sitting, a scrap of paper lying on a side table caught Nathan's eye. He picked it up and examined it, a sly grin spreading across his face.

"What were you up to before we got here Sully?" He asked casually.

"Eh?...Entertaining a business partner."

"Mmm? Is that all?"

Sully quirked an eyebrow at him, starting to catch on.

"It was good business."

"Well, this _business partner_ left you her phone number." He waved the scrap of paper in the air.

"Did she now? Well," Sully smirked. "Heh heh. What can I say? It was _very_ good business."

Nathan chuckled.

"You're a dirty old man, Sullivan."

"Shut up and sit down, kid. We got work to do."

Still laughing, Nathan settled himself back down onto the couch beside Lara, who was obviously eager to get back to the task at hand. She looked expectantly at him.

"Sully has kindly agreed to help us."

Her face broke into a relieved smile.

"Thank you. Both of you."

"Yeah, yeah," Sully dismissed her thanks gruffly. "I must be going soft in my old age, but yes. I'll help you."

"The two of you are in luck. It just so happens that the guy I sold that goddamn statue to is holding an auction tomorrow night, where I _believe_ he is intending to sell it. Its invitation only, but he and I go way back, so he kindly sent me one. And don't worry, I'm allowed bring a guest."

"Here's where things get a bit tricky, see. Knowing him, he'll try to sell the thing at a much higher price than what he paid for it, spinning some bullshit fairystory about it, and knowing his clientele, they'll lap it up. We ain't got the funds for that, so you're gonna have to steal it."

"No problem." Nathan shrugged nonchalantly. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, one more thing. Once you're in, you're on your own. I can't sell something to a guy and then be found out helping someone steal it. It's bad for my reputation. So just, try not to get caught. And if you do, pretend you don't know me. Got it?"

"Aye aye, sir."

"Wait," Lara cut in. "I assume it's a formal event?"

"Very. Which reminds me," Sully's eyes roved over their grimy street clothes. "We gotta get you two something decent to wear."

"Stop it!"

Still tugging at the irritating collar, Nathan turned slowly toward Lara, his eyebrows raised questioningly. She was frowning at him, her arms crossed. When it was clear that he had no idea what she was talking about, she sighed, and stepped closer, slapping his hand lightly away from the offensive shirt collar.

"Hey!"

"You've completely messed up your tie."

"It's itchy."

She rolled her eyes and began to redo the tie, straightening it and smoothing out the collar.

"There. Now, have you got the invitations?"

"Right here." He patted his jacket. "You didn't think I'd forget?"

"Let's go then."

As soon as Lara turned away, Nathan mutinously pulled the collar loose again. It was alright for her, she didn't have anything _strangling_ her. Lara was wearing a cocktail dress in a nice, deep purple colour that he didn't know the name of. It was tight on the torso with sort of short, lacy sleeves, and it flared out at her waist, coming to an end just above her knees. It really was a gorgeous dress, and he doubted anyone would ever suspect that she had a gun in a thigh holster underneath.

When he glanced down at her shoes, suddenly the collar didn't seem too bad. Better an itchy neck than running around in those death traps.

They set out down the long, winding driveway, the gravel crunching beneath their feet. At the end of it was an enormous manor, several stories high, with insane amounts of chimneys and windows, the crumbling walls slowly suffocating under ivy creepers. A throng of people were gathered at the entrance, all similarly dressed in formal attire. Nathan let out a low whistle as they drew nearer the house. It was quite imposing in the evening light.

"What is that, Victorian style?"

"More like Elizabethan," Lara corrected, shaking her head. "A replica. Not a particularly old one either. It just hasn't been taken care of." Her voice sounded sad and far away.

"What's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing..." She shook herself, and smiled, although it didn't reach her eyes. "It just reminds me of home, that's all." She stepped forward to join the crowd, not waiting for a reply. It took Nathan a moment to catch on.

"Wait," He hurried to her side, his mouth gaping. "You _live_ in a house like this?"

Lara shot him a look, but before she could say anything, the doors of the manor flew open, and the impatient crowd surged forward. The initial push swiftly quietened down and an orderly queue was formed. When they reached the large, ornate double doors, Nathan handed his invitation to the attendant, who gave him a bidding number, and ushered them inside. They joined the stream of people that flowed steadily through a larger foyer, all plush carpeting and portraits, into a gigantic hall. The ceiling seemed miles away, the walls covered with heavy drapes and tapestries. People milled around, examining the various artefacts on display, chatting, and taking advantage of the trays of champagne being offered around. It was becoming quite loud in there, and the volume only increased as more people entered. At the far end of the hall, a small stage had been erected, with tables and chairs set up around it.

Nathan scanned the room until his eyes fell on a small side door, through which another attendant was coming with what looked to be the first item up for auction.

"Bingo."

"Nathan, look at this." Lara called him over to her, raising her voice to be heard over the din. In her hand she held a leaflet with all the items for sale that evening. "It says here that the dragon is item number seventeen."

"Perfect. They won't start just yet, so that gives us loads of time to grab it and get out of here."

"Do you know where it is?"

"Not exactly, but you see that door?" He pointed. "It's somewhere behind there. We'll find it."

"Hmm." She raised an eyebrow sceptically at him. "And how do you suggest we get past the guy guarding the door?"

"Ah...I uh...I hadn't thought that far ahead." Nathan smiled sheepishly at Lara, but she wasn't paying any attention to him. She was focused on the door, obviously deep in thought. Her face brightened suddenly. He could practically see a light bulb appear over her head.

"I have an idea. Just follow my lead. And Nathan?"She turned and gave him a very serious look. "Please catch me."

"Catch you...?" He followed her as she set off down the hall, wondering what the hell she had planned.

Lara ambled along, seemingly aimlessly, stopping occasionally to examine an artefact on display, or a tapestry. She picked a glass of champagne up off a passing tray and sipped at it as she went along, chatting casually with several strangers. Nathan followed close behind her, and sometimes she would pause and offer up a tidbit of information on whatever they were looking at, or she would pass a remark on a random topic. He played along, and they continued down the hall like this, zig-zagging back and forth, finally ending up beside the door. The man guarding it barely gave them a second glance.

Lara stepped in closer to the tapestry hanging on the wall, appearing to examine it closely. Nathan loitered behind her, looking bored. She motioned to him come closer, and began telling him about the battle the tapestry depicted. It was pretty interesting, actually; she really knew her stuff. Abruptly, Lara's breathing hitched and she staggered backwards, dropping her champagne flute, which shattered into thousands of pieces.

"Lara!"

Nathan dashed forward to catch her as she collapsed in a mock faint. He lowered her gently to the ground, sweeping the glass shards out of the way. The guy guarding the door knelt beside them, his eyes wide with shock.

"What's wrong with her?"

Lara's eyes fluttered as Nathan shook her lightly, and she mumbled something.

"She needs some water," Nathan looked up, trying to make himself look convincingly shaken. "Can you get her some, please? I don't want to leave her." He injected a note of pleading into his tone, which worked surprisingly well.

"Of course! Right away. I'll be back in a second!" The guard leapt to his feet and scurried off.

"Ok, he's gone."

"Is anyone else watching?" Lara kept her eyes closed and her voice low.

"No." He laughed quietly as he looked around. Her timing had been perfect. "The bidding has just started. They're too busy spending their money to look this way."

Lara's eyes flew open and she hopped to her feet.

"Let's get this over with."

She opened the door and slipped through into the narrow corridor, Nathan right behind her. He laughed again.

"I can't believe that actually worked! You're an absolute genius! Have you done anything like that before?"

"No." She smiled to herself, small and satisfied, before looking up and down the corridor, her thoughtful frown reappearing. "Which way do we go now?"

"Ummm..." Their eyes met. "I guess we split up? I'll go left, you go right, and we meet back here in fifteen minutes?" She nodded.

"See you in fifteen minutes."

With that, they both set off in opposite directions down the passageway. Nathan hurried along silently. The first door he came to opened into a room full of nothing but extra tables and stacks of chairs. The next room, he ducked into at the sound of footsteps, but it was also empty apart from assorted rubbish. He waited until the footsteps had passed the door and peeked out. An attendant had just passed by, with the next item up for auction. He hoped that meant he was going the right way, and that all the items were kept in the same room, not spread out around the enormous house. He snorted. That would be just his luck.

He resumed his search along the corridor, with two more close calls and three more rooms with no joy. Finally, at the base of a steep, narrow staircase, was the room with all the items, laid out neatly in order. It took him about two seconds to locate the dragon. Huh. It was smaller than he remembered. And uglier. He shrugged to himself, heading back to the door and pulling it open.

"Oof! Crap!"

Just as Nathan opened the door, Lara burst in, barrelling straight into him and almost knocking the statue out of his hand. Her gun was in her hand, and she looked up at him urgently.

"Nathan! Oh, thank god, you have it! We have to get out of here!"

"What happened?" He shoved the statue into his pocket.

"It's Carlyle! He's here, I don't know how, but he found it, and we need to go! His men saw me; they'll be here any minute. Come on!"

Lara grabbed his arm, and dragged him out of the room, pushing him towards the stairs. As they sprinted up them two at a time, they heard deep shouts from the direction they had just come from. Bullets flew past their heads, the resounding bangs deafening in the narrow hallway. They careered through a maze of narrow corridors, up stairs, twisting and turning, dodging gunfire and sending off shots of their own. Eventually, their escape skidded to a halt in front of a locked door. Nathan swiftly kicked it down and ran inside, looking for an exit, while Lara watched the door, gun at the ready. He dashed straight over to the far side of the room and threw the doors to the balcony open. He looked down. They were about three stories up, with a grassy verge below that stretched towards the copse of trees beside the driveway.

"Lara, this way! Hurry!"

Without hesitation, she raced over to the balcony and swung herself over the railing, climbing nimbly down the wall. Nathan followed suit, but no sooner had he gotten himself over, Carlyle's goons appeared in the doorway, shouting. In their confusion, he managed to hit two of them, but the third quickly regained his composure, and shot at Nathan. A bullet struck the balustrade right beside his hand, pelting his face with fragments of stone, and causing him to lose his grip. He fell about two feet, but his flailing hands caught the base of the balcony. Wasting no more time, he descended the wall as quickly as possible, kicking off about two thirds of the way down. He landed awkwardly beside Lara, who was shooting up at the men on the balcony. Stumbling forward, he seized her elbow and spun her around, pulling her with him.

"Run!"

They hurtled towards the cover of the trees, firing wildly over their shoulders. Their pace hardly slowed as they reached the safety of cover, flying through the undergrowth, dodging trees and leaping over obstacles. Nathan reached the car just before Lara, starting the engine as soon as he hit the seat. As she dove into the passenger seat and slammed the door, he noticed she was barefoot. She must have discarded her shoes as soon as they needed to run. Lara screamed at him.

"Go, go, GO!"

Nathan didn't need to be told twice. They sped off into the night, looking over their shoulders for signs of pursuit.

* * *

 **And there we have it! Once again, sorry for the ridiculously long wait, I hope this makes up for it! I know it's not a _very_ long chapter, but it's much longer than the other two. I'll try get the next chapter out as soon as I possibly can, but I'm just so slow, so please be patient with me! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, (I did XD) and please leave a review!**


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